Employee Spotlight
Changhoon Oh, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Fellow – Aachoui Lab
How long have you been with UAMS? Oh, time flies. I started working in the UAMS on Jan, 1st, 2019. I’ve already been here more than two years.
Where is your hometown? My hometown is a small city called Jin-Ju in the southern part of South Korea. It’s not a metropolitan city, but it’s historical. Parts of the old castle remain in the center of the city and the river flows around the castle. Every October, we have a festival in the background of the castle and river. It’s full of lights and pretty beautiful.
What is your favorite childhood memory? My father really likes mountains. Naturally, I used to go hiking with my father. At night, we can enjoy the star lights on the top of the mountain. It was fantastic. Nowadays, the city is getting brighter and the air is getting polluted, so it’s hard to see that many stars in Korea. I’m missing that scene.
What kinds of hobbies and interests do you have outside of work? Well, I used to read books and watch movies. Sometimes I went to the gym. Honestly, I’m quite far away from them now. Instead, I ride bikes or hike with my family.
What has been the most important innovation you have witnessed in your lifetime? It’s hard to rank, but I think the internet is definitely one of the most innovative. Now people can get whatever information they want with a few taps on the keyboard. It made our life much easier. It became hard to consider searching through the encyclopedia to find something.
Where is the best place you have traveled to and why? In fact, I haven’t traveled that much. However, just before coming USA, I went to Je-Ju island in Korea with my family. It is a lovely island and has lots of things to see and to do. We enjoyed it pretty much. If you have a chance to visit Korea, I recommend going there.
If you could be anyone from any time period whom would it be and why? I haven’t thought about this question before. There might be many candidates such as the most powerful or the richest person in the world. If we can establish the precondition that Covid-19 started from one person who knew they were infected, I want to be that person. Then I’ll be self-quarantined for 2 weeks for every other people.
What is the greatest challenge you have had to overcome in your life thus far? Well, could it be that I came to the US? It’s not that easy to live in a different culture with a different language. Of course, it’s also interesting. I hope that something meaningful can be achieved through such a challenge.
What is your favorite sport? I’m not good at sports, but I like most of them. I think I like baseball the most now, although I can’t watch games often.
You’re happiest when? It’s obviously the moment when my kids were born. I’m always grateful they came to me and are growing well.